Clean Energy

Floor Speech

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Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Speaker, as a freshman Member of Congress, it has been an honor and a privilege to get to serve on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and I am so grateful for that opportunity. I commend Speaker Pelosi and Chair Castor for their outstanding leadership.

Long before I pursued public office, I was a proud clean energy advocate, and I knew then, as I know now, that solutions to the climate crisis could also be solutions to many economic challenges we face.

We have seen that come true in my home State of California where we have embraced ambitious measures to combat climate change and have seen strong economic growth, particularly in the clean energy sector.

Last year, California supported more than half a million clean energy jobs in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean vehicles. Through 2019 job growth was nearly 10 percent annually.

Clean energy technology, clean domestic manufacturing, and environmental restoration is already putting Americans to work.

Our report highlights a number of ways that we can combat the climate crisis and create more jobs at the same time. For example, the report includes bipartisan legislation I introduced to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by promoting environmentally responsible development of renewable energy on public lands.

We can expand those technologies and grow our economy by extending important tax credits like the solar investment tax credit which drives job creation, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and helps level the playing field for clean energy. We will also create jobs with strong Federal funding for infrastructure, investments in new and retooled domestic manufacturing facilities, new buy clean procurement rules, expanded loan opportunities for decarbonization technologies, and the creation of a civilian conservation corps and a climate resilience service corps.

Alternatively, if we fail to act, we will allow other countries to take the lead on developing clean technologies. China, India, and nations in Europe will reap the economic rewards, and we will find ourselves purchasing foreign products that should have been made right here in America.

Some might take issue with the perceived cost of climate action, but it is also important to note the cost of inaction. My friend, Marshall Burke, a researcher at Stanford University, has studied this extensively and found that if we don't take substantial action to mitigate the climate crisis, it will cost the U.S. economy $25 to $35 trillion over the coming decades.

That is why we must act. I have a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old at home, and, like any parent, there is a lot that I worry about for their future; but I am most concerned about the planet that we are going to leave behind for them and for their children. The path we are on right now leads to a grim future for our planet. Our report charts a new hopeful course for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues and the outstanding staff who made this report possible. Now let's get to work.

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